PC overheating in this weather?

The Junior Lamas Design Duo finish school today.  They start their new one in September.  

I went to their leavers assembly today and yes, I cried!  I cried the day they started and I cried the day they finished.  I am their mum, it is my right to do so!


The weather we are having at the moment is just fantastic.  The garden is dry, well, maybe dryer than I would like but the hosepipe is taking care of the vegetables growing in the garden.

What we do need to watch is the temperature inside.  Computers and Laptops dont like being hot, they need to be kept well ventilated.  

If you are having a sudden epidemic of PC crashes, reboots and general nonsense it may be that you are having overheating issues.

Make sure all the fans inside desktops are working.
Ensure that the vents on your laptop are clear and that air is circulating freely.

If you still have issues it may be that there is a build up of dust inside your PC which needs clearing out.

This is quite easy to do, but it is something Lamas Design and Technology can fix.

Tuition : one to one computer lessons Benfleet

I was recently asked if I offered lessons in using a computer.  I replied Maybe!

I have just given my first lesson.  It seemed to go well and I was rebooked for same time next week.

So I am adding this as a service offered  by Lamas Design.

User Account Passwords

User Accounts are a good thing. 

Forgetting the password for it is not! 

Another thing that is not good is setting a password that you cannot remember setting and not remembering what it was that you set it to!

Lamas Design "Networking Division" managed to set a password on his laptop user account yesterday

1. without actually realising that he had done so
2. not using one of his standard methods for making up said password
3. not making a note of it.

So, today when he switched on his laptop, he arrived at the login screen and was unable to get any further.

It was not long before he realised that he might have an issue.  He tried various different combinations. 

The reset password link on the login screen is to be set up BEFORE crisis point.  Not after you have forgotten, mis-laid, or set it up by mistake!!

I learned something new today.  I learned how to sort this out without any tears, reinstalls or anything major!  Just another sucessful day at the office!

One thing that I also learned is, that if you only have one user account on the PC it makes it more difficult (but not impossible.) to sort out. Having a second account on your PC makes life a little bit easier!

I will be sending the Network Division an invoice for my services!! 

Raspberry Pi Media Centre (Again)

The Lamas Household is getting on well with the Raspberry Pi.

That's about the size of it!

Because of this I have decided to add an additional service to Lamas Design and Technology.

As an additional service I am going to supply and install Raspberry Pi to turn a TV into a Smart TV to stream media.

For the first 2 weeks in June I will be offering it at a discounted rate.

For Full details and prices see my website!

Lamas Design website.

I hope your first day of summer was a good one!

Raspberry Pi Media centre part 2

The Raspberry Pi Media Centre is working well!

The Networking Division is extremely happy with it.  He had a bithday this week so the Junior Lamas (Lamettes?) bought him a remote keyboard and mouse.



Its a bit bigger than a mobile phone and takes up much less space that a full keyboard and mouse.  It is wirelessly connected to the Pi via a USB dongle and has sufficient range that he can use it accross the kitchen while he is cooking my tea!

The spec according to Amazon is

2.4 GHz Mini Wireless Media Keyboard with Multi-Touch Gesture
Touchpad Mouse Remote PC HTPC for Windows XP/Vista/7.

OS Compatibility : Windows XP/ Vista / 7       (the manual includes Linux)
Dimension(L x W x H): 125 x 86 x 18 mm
Weight: 106g
Wireless Technology: RF 2.4GHz ISM band
Transfer Distance: 10 meters (depend on user environment)
Frequency Scope: 2479 MHz 

It takes 2 AAA batteries.

The manual, however, was less than comprehensive !  According to the manual it was to be installed using the handy CD enclosed,  which is fine for a laptop or PC but just not much use on the Raspberry Pi.

The Settings option in RaspBMC gave no further help.

But we found it in Programs.
Selected RaspBMC settings.
Across the top of the window is

Networking         Nightly Build       System Config       IR Remote
Config                          Config

Selecting IR Remote on the right side of the screen gives a further 3 options. 
The bottom one is GPIO IR Remote and on the right it scrolls through a list of different remotes.
We selected TTUSB remote and were good to go.

It has made the Raspberry Pi more portable as we don't have to trail the keyboard, mouse and mat around the house.